Equilibrium
by Chanty0
Summary: The team tries to move on with a member gone, until Director Vance get's a call asking him for a favor; Ziva's been missing... Takes off where Aliyah stopped. SPOILERS for Aliyah, TIVA
1. Chapter 1 The End Of The Beginning

_**Hey all!  
This is my first fanfic on my own and the first one of NCIS!  
I know, it's a short chapter but it's only the first one, and there is more to come!**_

_**Disclaimer: Nope don't any of the charakters on the show... oh wait a minute... No, no I don't**_

He hit his steering wheel again and again. It didn't matter how much it hurt his arm, he felt stupid.  
It was stupid to be going in there alone, he should have known that Rivkin wouldn't listen to his threat or warning. Vance was right he  
shouldn't have gone to Ziva's place with bringing someone along. And when Ziva asked him about it, he could only justify himself saying  
that where and how much he shot Rivkin was the right thing to do.  
Tony moved his hand through his hair. All he wanted to do was protect her from the same betrayal he put Jeanne through. He shrugged,  
he messed this one up all right.

Tony looked ahead of him. It was three in the morning and he was about to head home after a long night of filling out forms and writing a statement on his stay in Israel. The mustang purred as the engine started. All he could do now was go home, have a drink, get a few  
hours of sleep and be here again tomorrow morning looking at the empty desk in front of him.

__________________________________________________________________________________

The next day the mood in the bullpen at NCIS was tense. Gibbs was more quiet than usual, Tony wasn't cracking jokes or making a fool  
out of someone and there was no Ziva baiting Tony. McGee felt nervous, he had never seen those two acting like they did now. Of course he missed Ziva, but they acted like she died, but all they needed to do was grab their phone and dial her number right?  
McGee almost jumped in the air when his phone broke the awkward silence surrounding them.  
Checking his phone and saw it was Abby calling him. Glad of this interruption he answered his phone more enthusiastically then intended.

"Hi, Abs!" He chirped  
" McGee, I got to show you something really cool. It's got something to do with mold!"  
McGee, who got to know Abby's obsession with mold while working with her on a previous case, knew that it indeed  
looked somewhat cool, and everything was better than sitting in this silence.

"I'll be right there."

__________________________________________________________________________________

While McGee was downstairs, Gibbs was waiting for his senior agent to speak out and tell him what was on his mind. Although Gibbs knew what was on his mind he still hoped Tony would speak to him or someone else. Except this time he didn't. It reminded him of the time Jenny died and Tony blamed himself. Tony would work it out on his own, but it'll take some time.

It would take Gibbs sometime too. He's not a someone who trusts people fast and easily 'cause when he does something like this happens,  
he was betrayed.  
Of course he didn't know where Ziva's words stopped and her father's took over.  
But still, hearing or seeing your trust violated is something he doesn't take lightly.  
But he should leave it all behind and will when the rest of his team got their heads back together.

He sighed and got back to the paper in front of him. Getting a new case would help all of them.  
And like god heard his plea, his phone rang telling them there has been a murder which needed solving.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Director Vance sat in his office walking through some files when his phone rang.

"Vance," he answered, with half his attention still at the file looking up at him .  
"Vance, this is Eli," There was a deep intake of breath before he continued, "I have a favor to ask you"

This drew Director Vance's full attention to the call. He drew himself upright and concentrated on Eli David's next words.

" It's Ziva, I need your help."

_________________________________________________________________________________

_**Please tell me what you thought!**_

_**And if the english is bad let me know! English is not my first ******__Language.  
It will get more exciting the rest of the story, and ofcourse some TIVA._


	2. Chapter 2 The Next Fase

**I can't believe that the first chapter got 11 reviews! And only for the first chapter!  
I'm glad that you all liked it.  
Someone pointed out that Eli would call Vance by his first name Leon. And that's true!  
I can't believe I missed that one :P**

And I want to apologize because I meant to update last Friday but I was stuck with the flu and my tonsils were…YUK! But now I'm getting better thanks to my antibiotics! Woho!

DC: Don't own anyone!!

_  
Three months later_

Her head hung low awaiting the next blow to her back. They still thought that beating her would make her break and that she'd spill the truth.

"Ah!" The long awaited punch landed near her spine between her neck and shoulder blade.  
Ziva felt tears forming in her eyes but swallowed them. She didn't want to give her captors that pleasure. Another fist landed on her back knocking off her knees and onto the floor.

"You know that there's a simple way of making this all stop," A tall, military dressed man whispered into her ear, "just say the words."

Ziva only smirked at this attempt of making her talk. She wrapped her hands around the chains that tied her to the wall and pulled herself back up.

"Still nothing, my dear? Too bad. I'd like to see your pretty face without the bruises for once."  
The man in the uniform smiled near her ear, and his hot breath wrapped around her neck which made her whole body shudder with disgust.

The man stood up and yelled to someone else in the room, "Tie her back to the chair."  
Ziva was picked up and shoved into a wooden chair in the middle of the room. They tied her arms and legs to the chair using rope.

"See you next time, my love."  
Ziva had to restrain herself from spitting in the man's face. All three men exited the room, locking her back inside.  
This wasn't her first time being tortured and most definitely not her worst time. Of course this wasn't pleasant but they hadn't used the other methods yet. And the methods they hadn't used yet well they were the ones to be truly afraid of. Thank god she would be gone by then, at least she hoped.  
While being in this room, with no indication of time, she noticed a pattern. She knew that they only sent one group to her a day. And this is what she figured out.  
On her day one, two and three the same guy with three two guards came in to do his 'thing'.  
The next two days they would send in a intimidating torturer who would use more painful methods with only one guard. Then the next day her first torturer with his two guards would come back in. And the day after that she got a guy who tried to reason with her and make her think the ones doing this were human. This person took no guards with him.  
This cycle had repeated its self for the last fifteen weeks.

Using her knowledge of Mossad, she knew that they wanted her to try and escape with the last person who had no guards. But if she did she'd be caught around the next corner and they'd have a reason to do everything they wanted with her.

So she decided on doing something else. All she needed to do was wait for the next day.  
She squeezed the screw tightly in her hand.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The bullpen at NCIS was silent. Three out of four desks were occupied. McGee and Tony behind their computer,  
and the 'new' agent hand writing reports. It has been three and a half months since Gibbs, Vance and Tony returned from Isreal.  
None have spoken about what happened there. They all left it at something that has been and moved on. Including tony.

"Probie, what did you do now?!" Tony yelled at McGee.

"What is it this time Tony?" McGee answered back without taking his eyes of his computer screen.

Tony started laughing and stood up. He pretended to hold a microphone and gave a performance.  
" Ladies and gentlemen, may I present you mister Elf lord!"  
Tony turned his computer screen towards McGee. It showed a picture of McGee in an elf costume and ears.  
There was a little crown drawn on top of his head.

McGee looked horrified at the screen and lunged at Tony's keyboard trying to delete it right away But Tony blocked him.  
"Na ah ah."

McGee tried again making Tony Block him again.  
"Come on Tony, this isn't funny!" McGee Whined.

"Yes it is McLordi. Too bad I didn't come up with the idea." Still a big grin plastered on his face when his gaze fell on the agent sitting across from him. Agent Sacks looked up at Tony and McGee. He was about to say something to his two colleagues when a woman's voice spoke before he could.

" Do you know where I can find Agent Gibbs?" The woman asked looking at the faces of all three the agents. Tony answered while McGee walked back to his desk.

"He's not here right now. Maybe I can help you?" Tony said while looking at the woman. She had dark curls and a tanned skin. The woman reminded him of Ziva. Only this woman had a wider face and was a bit smaller.

"You must be agent Dinozzo. I've heard about you before." She said smiling at him.

"You have? I can't say I've seen you before."

"No you haven't. My name is Tali. Tali David."

**Now that's a cliffy :P  
I know it's still short, and there hasn't been any TIVA yet. But I want the story to be a little more 'realistic'. So This story has a long way to go before it ends and I know which route it'll take.  
Please keep reviewing! **


	3. Chapter 3 Escape

**_I am SO SORRY!_**

It's been way to long since the last time I updated  
But i was busy with school, internship, work, ballet and a lot more!  
I felt I owed some of you a chapter!

Really hope you like it!

And thank you ALL for reviewing!!  
Those reviews really made my stressing days!

Disclaimer: I own no charakter what so ever only my own words...  


_ZIVA_

The few hours of sleep she got were well needed. It wouldn't be long until the next 'shift' arrives.  
The that had woke her up could already be heard.  
Heavy footsteps pounded through the thin walls that separated her from everything else. Along with the footsteps she heard there was another sound. She didn't recognize it, and that scared her. The horrible things they had already done to her could always be worse.  
This time she feared it was going to be worse and almost flinched at the pain to come. The only way she could make it through  
was not to think about the pain that was her body.

She looked up at the closed door. Her heart started to race. The sound of the locks opening and clicking made her clench  
the screw in her hand even harder. It hurt like hell but she didn't care. It wasn't her only broken bone in her body and  
by the look of things it wouldn't be the last one.

The door slammed against the wall revealing a tall man which she knew as her torturer. The man stepped aside s  
o that a guard could walk past him and put a bucket full of water, some cloth and a wooden plank next to Ziva.  
But what surprised her the most was the second guard that dragged in what probably were the supports of the wooden plank,  
making it a table.

Her heart started racing. She knew this technique.  
"You should have given up sooner, Miss David."

Ziva looked the man directly in the eye. She had all kind of retorts and insult ready but none came out.  
She was petrified. The man was intimidating.

The man slowly walked to the back of the chair.

"This little equipment we got here will be hell for you, but," The man undid the ropes around her wrist while Ziva hid the screw deep within her hand, "This will be nothing compared to what you 'partner' will go through."

Ziva wrinkled her forehead, who was he talking about?

"Who?" Was all her raspy voice could say.

"You don't know your own partner? Well, that surprises me." He kneeled back in front of her.

"I heard his Italian charms work well on the american ladies. And ofcourse he also killed a good friend of mine and your ex-lover."

Shock crossed Ziva's face.

"Don't worry, my dear Ziva we won't hurt him, not until all his fingernails have been pulled out and at least all 10 fingers  
have been separated-" His sentence was cut off.

Ziva lunged at him, pushing the screw into his neck artery up against the wall.  
"Tell my father that I am done being his puppet."

She felt adrenalin starting to pump through her veins. It made her sharper and numbed her pain.

Soon one of the guards overcame his shock and tried to grab Ziva from behind.  
Before the unarmed guard could grab her she had kicked him in the stomach and he was down on the floor.  
But the other guard grabbed her before she had the chance to redirect her attention. He hit her hard in the face  
and locked her arm behind her back.  
But Ziva being better trained brought her head back against his nose. It cracked and the guard loosened his grip on her hand for just one moment. This gave her the time to turn around and drive the screw through the man's air pipe. He fell to the ground the nail still in his throat.

The uninjured guard was trying to stand back up, but fell back down when Ziva kicked him in the face.  
She grabbed the remaining rope that had tied her hands together until only a few minutes ago.  
After quickly bonding the hands together of the only guard that was still alive, she walked over to the bucket full of water.  
She cupped her hand together and hastily drank the soothing water.

Not to long after she started in the direction which she thought to be the entrance to the deck.  
After a minute of searching she tried the first door on her right.

The sunlight hit her face. It made her stop dead in her tracks. The sunrise was magnificent.  
It illuminated the entire ship in a glow that looked surreal. After being locked in a cell with no windows and no light, it made her feel like a child again. When she was young she used to watch the sunrise with Tali. Ziva smiled to herself.

She quickly got a hold of herself and scanned the deck. Most of the crew were still in their quarters, and she quickly found her escape route.  
The ship was docked and there were no guards around. Her hands were absentmindedly wiping the blood of her hands onto her pants.

_'This is odd,' _she thought while frowning_,_ _'no guards on a Mossad prison ship.'  
_As she made her way over to the railing she saw why. There was a lot of commotion going on. By the look of thing they were refugees.  
She quickly scanned the horizon.  
There was smoke rising a few miles away.

Slowly she started to feel her adrenalin leaving her body. Pain and exhaustion took over. Suddenly she felt scared again.  
Those refugees could make her escape impossible. She needed to act fast before the commotion was over and they found her standing  
near the edge of the ship.

After scanning the dock for guards and a way to escape her eyes landed on a vehicle. It looked worn but she hoped that it would drive.

She limped her way onto the docks hiding behind crates and barrels. Thankfully the guards had their back turned to her.  
The door of the car opened with a fuss and only made a soft squeaky sound. She checked on the guards but they were still busy arguing with the refugees.  
One guard was losing his temper and began pointing his gun at the people nearest the gate.

_'This isn't going to end well.' _Ziva said to herself.

After pulling herself into the car she started tampering with wires that were hidden beneath the steering wheel. Ziva made several attempts to create a spark and get the car started. At her 14th try she almost gave up hope when suddenly the engine started purring and rumbling.

"Yes!" Ziva yelled out loud, using her English vocabulary.

She hastily pulled herself upright and was about to speed off when there were shots fired. Her instinct made her duck but she soon realized that they weren't aiming at her. The guard had finally lost it.  
He was shooting the refugees. Screaming filled the air. Ziva saw a mother falling to the ground holding her lifeless son in her hands.

Anger made tear come to her eyes. She hated herself for ever being proud of being in the Mossad.  
Ziva put the old vehicle in gear and drove into the direction of the guards near the gate.  
When the guards finally turned around and noticed her, it was already too late.  
She was determent to get the guard that shot that boy.  
At it wasn't long until she felt the guards' body pass beneath her car.

After making sure she didn't hit any of the refugees Ziva made her escape into the nearest town.  
When she came there she knew where they had taken her.

Kenya.

That would explain the bombing at the refugees. And this made her realize more than before.  
She needed to go home. To her Family, to NCIS.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

**_Please Read and REVIEW!  
I'll try and update sooner! My busy day's are almost over!  
(please like it!)_**

And remember ENGLISH ISN'T my first language!

Chanty, 


	4. Chapter 4 A Reunion?

_**I know it's soon but I wanted to update because I had time to write and felt that I owed you guys because the  
last chapter took ages to upload. This is also my longest chapter yet with a lot of TIVA in it.**__** Don't get carried away by it, you never know what will happen next.  
I still got my doubts about this chapter but I had the idea and wanted to write it!**_

**P.S: I recently updated this chapter**** it will make more sense for the upcoming chapters. **_**  
**_  
_**I know Tali is supposed to be dead, but all will reveal in due time. **_

_**And to all my reviewers, THANK YOU GUY'S YOU'RE THE BEST!!**_

Tony almost fell back into his chair.

"I'm sorry, I most have heard you wrong. You're-?" Tony was cut off by Tali.

"I would love to tell you more, but that will have to happen in private. I suspect you have a room around where we could talk? And please find agent Gibbs, this is important."

Tony kept his eyes on her and after a moment of doubt he turned his head to McGee and said "McGee, tell Gibbs we have a visitor. Tell to meet us at in the interview room."

He turned his attention back to the dark skinned woman in front of him.  
"Please follow me." After gently pushing her in the right direction he made eye contact with agent Sacks. Sacks raised his eyebrows in question and watched the two walk away.

Tony lead her into their interview room.  
"Want anything to drink?" He asked her when he opened the door to leave.

"Some soda would be nice thank you." She said with a smile

Tony nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Gibbs was standing outside the door waiting for him to come out and debrief him on what was going on.

"Tell me." Was all he said

Tony sighed, "Today this woman came in claiming to be Tali David."

Gibbs frowned "Isn't she supposed to be dead?"

"That's what I thought but she declined to talk more until we were in a private room."  
he said while walking over to the vending machine, put some change in and getting a drink.

Gibbs opened the door strolling in with Tony close behind. He put out his hand for her to shake  
"Special agent Gibbs."

Tali took his hand and shook it. "Tali David but I go by the name of Sarah Willikens."

Gibbs sat down across from her and Tony took a seat next to his boss. He handed her the soda.

"Talk to me 'Sarah'." Gibbs stared right at her waiting for her to talk.

"Well, I shall begin at the beginning. Maybe you know that I was involved with an explosion when I was 16. I was in critical condition and well… supposedly I died. But I managed to survive. My sister did all she could to make my father and everyone else believe that I was dead.  
They somehow managed to get me to America, where I rehabilitated and received a scholarship so I could finish school and go to college." She took a sip from het drink before she continued.  
"Anyway, I always stayed in touch with my sister. When she was able to move here I was happy. She finally explained to me that she got me to America to get away from my father and the Mossad. She said to me that If I heard nothing from her for more than 4 months  
I needed to contact you, NCIS, and that something would be wrong. And seeing that it has been over 4 months I started to worry and I came here."  
Tali looked down at her soda avoiding eye contact.

Gibbs took a deep breath and said they needed to take and that they would look into the case. Tali aka Sarah would go into protective custody. Gibbs and Tony agreed that someone might've seen her come in here and if they put two and two together they might figure out who she is.

After discussing the details tony led Sarah out of the interview room and took her to see the director.  
After they left Gibbs grabbed his phone and called McGee.

"McGee, we got a case."

_______________________________________________________________________

_High heels clicked out of the elevator onto the carpet where the sound was lost.  
The woman put a strand of blond short hair behind her ear. She looked around, took a deep breath and walked into the familiar bullpen. She scanned the desks and found that only one was occupied. The only one she was hoping to be empty._

_Nobody had recognized her on her way up or when she asked for a visitors pass. It meant the disguise works. It would probably also work  
on Gibbs, McGee, Abby, ducky and the rest but not on her partner. No he knew her too well, as she knew him too well. But she needed to talk to someone of the team and sooner or later she would have had to make herself know as Ziva. But she rather choose later than sooner._

_She walked to his desk, standing still right before him. He seemed busy and doesn't notice her.  
She finally decided that the only way to get his attention meant actually speaking to him._

"_Tony." She said making it sound like a statement._

_He looked up. He would recognize that voice everywhere but he wasn't sure until he saw her face. Her cheekbones, her eyes, her lips everything screamed Ziva. But the way she was dressed, in a leather pants with a blouse, was new to him. Especially her hair. It was blond, cut in a bob and straightened. Many wouldn't recognize her but he did.  
It had been too long since he had last seen her, and their last meeting hadn't been a good one._

_But now after searching for her across the globe for the last couple of weeks, she was here in front of him looking unharmed and looking nothing like herself._

"_Ziva?" He replied perplexed._

_She didn't respond._

"_How have you been Ziva?" This was all Tony could muster up._

"_I've had worse days," She replied, "And you Tony, How have you been?"  
And before she knew it she screwed things up by saying the next words  
"Looks like you got away with murder."  
She immediately regretted saying those words as soon as they left her mouth.  
She hadn't come back here to start a fight. For those to be her first word to her partner who she hadn't seen in many months was downright stupid._

_Tony's face darkened when he heard those words and immediately spat back an accusation.  
To think that he had been worried about her._

"_Oh I've been good, ZeeVah." He decided to disregard her question and answer with a question of his own. "I see you have some trust issues?"_

"_What are you talking about Tony?" Ziva frowned._

"_A few weeks ago we had a visitor. She said she was worried because she hadn't heard from a certain someone in a while. And you know what? She turned out to be your sister! Who I of course  
and everyone else believed to be dead! " He said standing up and leveling himself to her height._

"_Where is she?" This was all Ziva was able to say._

"_Don't worry, she's safe. But you should've trusted us Ziva."_

_Ziva let out a small laugh.  
"Trust Tony? Like I trusted you, when you disrespected me by meddling with my personal life?"_

"_It stopped being your personal life when he turned out to be working in a terrorist cell."  
Tony was getting aggravated. He walked around his desk to stand in front of her._

"_So that was your motive for killing him?"  
Ziva referred to Michael. Ziva knew she never loved Michael, but she had cared for him._

"_I came looking for you. You already know this. He tried to attack me, Ziva! It was self-defense."_

_Now it was Ziva's turn to be angry.  
"Don't lie to me."  
She shoved him._

"_I'm not lying Ziva!" Tony Replied regaining his composure.  
On the other side of the bullpen McGee found himself wondering what was going on. He saw the back of a blond lady arguing and pushing Tony. Unfortunately he can't understand a single they're saying. McGee laughed at the situation. Tony was being scolded at, at work!_

_Ziva grabbed Tony's shoulders, put her foot behind his and tackled his to the ground.  
Tony bit his lip, preventing himself from screaming out in agony when his shoulder hit the floor.  
Ziva pretended she didn't see the look that crossed his face. And straddled him. Pulling her fist back  
"You could have shot him once, or in the knee."  
Their talk was getting louder and louder, drawing attention from other people in the squadroom._

"_We already had this conversation, you should've been there to know."_

_Tears welled up in her eyes.  
"Like you should've been there for me!" She finally verbalized the true source of her anger.  
Ziva didn't like it one bit. She was about to spill her heart out to someone. That's not something Ziva does on a regular basis._

"_I needed you Tony, Those days they spent…spent torturing me I kept going because I thought you were looking for me, that you would come and save me. But you never came. I started hating myself for believing that you would come for me. I started thinking that I made you hate me because I didn't believe you. And then they told me they were hurting you and…" A tear fell down her cheek and onto Tony's face. "I am sorry…" Ziva looked down._

_Only now Tony realized where Ziva had been the last few months.  
She was held captive and tortured. He can't imagine what she must've been through_

"_I'm so sorry Zi, I didn't know, I didn't know…" He cupped her face with his good hand and wiped away her tears. He then let his hand move to her hair and put his hand in the small of her neck. Ziva closed her eyes at his touch and when his started bringing her head down she let him._

_She opened her eyes when she was but a mere inch away from locking lips._

_Tony lifted his head off the ground and closed the gap between their mouths. The kiss was soft and sweet. Ziva felt it become intense when tony teased her lip when he took it between his teeth. This made Ziva gasp and she opened her mouth letting him enter. Ziva always imagined Tony to be a good kisser but never this gentle and yet so wanting. Tony couldn't help himself, he slowly let his hands creep up her back underneath her blouse. She curved her back not wanting him to stop touching her. In response Ziva started to unbutton the first two buttons of his blouse and let her hands roam his chest feeling his muscles tighten beneath her touch. Tony rolled them both over so he was on top. He never let go of her lips._

_Tony never thought that when he was reunited with his partner that the meeting would end like this. He stopped exploring her mouth and started trailing kisses along her jaw down to her neck and back up. Ziva moaned and sought back his lips and decided that she needed to be on top. They rolled back. Pinning tony to the ground and Ziva still kissing him._

_What they failed to notice were the people that stared at their reunification. There were at least 20 people looking, including McGee. Who was amazed that Tony would actually make out at work with some blond bimbo in the middle of the bullpen who he was only fighting with a minute before._

_He was about to break the two up when Gibbs bumped into him yelling "Dinozzo!"_

_The two on the ground didn't respond. Gibbs tried yelling again. "He, Dinozzo!"  
Still nothing._

_Gibbs turned around and walked over to his desk and grabbed a bottle water.  
And without warning he emptied the bottle of water over their heads. Tony gasped for breath while Ziva's wig fell off her head revealing her dark hair plastered to her head._

"_Ziva?" McGee said._

_**Well didn't expect that now did you?**__**  
You can see that the last part is written in italics. And why would that be?  
Soto find out, please keep reading this story but most of all please, **_

_**REVIEW!! **_

_**Chanty,**_


	5. Chapter 5 Airport

**A/U:** It's been a LONG, LONG time. But I've been out of the country for a while and didn't have a computer to write on. But don't worry I've got my story straightened out and the confusion and weirdness from last chapter will come into place.

I know some hoped for a lot of TIVA fluff but I've decided to not do all the, "Oh Ziva! I've always loved you now let's get married and have lots of babies!" stuff. It doesn't really fit me, and not with the way the story is going. I want to keep it in character and as realistic as possible. (Last chapter was just some fun. It's explained later!)

I want to, but I can't promise to update regularly! So don't hate me if it takes to long!

Uhm… I think that's all I wanted to put in this authors note which BTW is way too long!

Please read and ofcourse review.

**DISCLAIMER:** Don't own it now, and won't magically own it in the next chapter, or other chapters to come!

* * *

_  
ZIVA  
_  
She should have known that escaping wouldn't be that easy. After she got out of the horrible place they kept her in, Ziva had driven nonstop.  
She only stopped to put in more gas. The pick-up truck was loaded with metal cans full of gasoline.  
Her captors and the guards on the ship were probably right behind her.

After driving for hours she finally reached Nairobi the capital of Kenya. Nairobi held numerous airports but the one she was looking for was the international one. It's not a modern, but a construction site showed recent development to the airstrip. It was called Jomo Kenyatta.

Ziva drove into the parking lot and parked the rusty pick-up truck. She searched the truck and when she opened the glove compartment she found what she was looking for. The compartment held a cell phone and a lot of money.  
The money was probably earned from selling the cans of gasoline in the back of the truck. Ziva hoped in the back of her mind  
that it wasn't blood money.

Ziva slowly headed towards the entrance of the airport and absentmindedly took herself in. The events that happened on the  
ship tucked away deeply, if she thought about it she knew she would crack. But she also knew she couldn't give up now.  
Her legs dragged her closer to the entrance.

_I'm a wreck, _she thought as she looked herself up and down. She was barefooted, her face showed bruising, her torn shirt showed bare  
back which had deep cuts and burn marks on them and she felt a few cracked ribs.

The doors opened for her. It was busy airport, it transfers a few million people a day. Nobody noticed her except some of the customs.  
They scanned the crowd every once in a while but left Ziva alone. But the first thing she did was locating the nearest restroom with the  
nearest clothing shop.

There was a small shop selling almost everything. She hurriedly took a pair of jeans in her size, black basic shirt, underwear, a bra, a pair of comfortable shoes and last but not least some toiletries.  
Ziva hurried to the cashier. The cashier looked her up and down and frowned at her swollen eye. But none the less the woman scanned her goods, took her money and politely asked her to come again.  
Ziva felt the cashiers eyes on her as she walked out of sight and into the restroom.  
She went into one of the stalls and changed her clothes. She left the old ones on the floor.

She heard someone enter the restroom and was heading to one of the stalls

Ziva headed towards the sink. She put her bag with toiletries and money besides the sink on the counter and started washing her face and hands with the soap she bought.

The toiled flushed and a dark skinned woman dressed as a flight attendant went to one of the other sinks to wash her hands.  
The woman gave Ziva a reassuring smile after seeing her swollen eye and left the restroom, leaving Ziva to herself.

This gave her the cue to hastily was her hair, using the sink. She left her hair down to cover some of the bruises on her neck, face, back and every other place her hair could cover.

What she needed now was a good meal. The last one she had consisted of stale bread and water and that was a few days ago. After looking around she noticed an empty table outside a sandwich take away. She ordered what she wanted with enough bottles of water and sat down.  
The spot she had chosen overlooked one of the check ins where a flight for the states was leaving in 2 hours. The only problem was, the absence of her passport. But there were enough other way of getting on an airplane without being noticed. Although it was getting harder recently.  
But she remembered a story about a boy being able to get on a plane with no ticket and no money because of a possible terrorist threat.

Now Ziva was planning on doing the same.

Behind the check ins was a door which was for personnel only but led to the airstrip. All she needed to do now was create a diversion. Her victim was easily chosen.

Ziva stood up and pretended to head for the check-in.  
All of a sudden she started yelling, "BOMB! He's got a bomb!"  
whilst she pointed to a man looking sweaty and nervous.

People started screaming and chaos emerged. All of a sudden there were customs coming from everywhere, closing in on the nervous looking man.

The man apparently had a death wish, cause he stood up and looked for every possible way to escape but found none.

This left the door Ziva wanted to go through unguarded and an easy target.  
Ziva looked around at the scene played before her and started towards the door. Behind her the customs were screaming.

"PUT HANDS YOUR WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!" The first one yelled, aiming his gun at the man.

"Lay down on the floor!" Another continued.

The voices became whispers when the door closed behind her and from there on it wasn't hard to get on the plane using the luggage as cover. As Ziva lay between the luggage on the plane, she finally had the time to unwind. It was a long trip back to the states and she had enough time to think things through. Somehow her mind went back to her time onboard that ship. One of the things she didn't want to think about. Ziva felt alone. Mossad betrayed her, her friends at NCIS lost their faith in her and it was her own fault. The only thing she wanted now was to get home alive and somehow make amends with NCIS.

Ziva didn't allow herself to cry. The only time she would cry again was when the tears were of happiness.

The plane left the ground a moment later. The sound of the engines lulled Ziva to sleep. That's where she relived her horrible day's on the ship.

* * *

_The Next day_

Getting off the airplane had proven to be very easy. Maybe it had just been luck, but nobody gave her as much as a second glance and before she knew it she was heading towards the exit.

She did some of the necessary things like eating, going to the restrooms etc. But something didn't feel right. At first she didn't know what it was because the customs didn't seem to notice her but then something else popped into her mind. Mossad. They wouldn't be stupid. They knew that she would head back to the states to get back to NCIS. She cursed herself for being so stupid and to feel like she was out of danger. There were a couple of men trying to look inconspicuously. There was one near the exit, one pretending to read a newspaper and she also saw one near a restaurant. She didn't know how much more there were.

There was nothing she could do. If she tried to escape they would come after her. They would show no mercy. But if she stayed put and let them take her she might have a chance.

Ziva thought fast. She needed to call someone and someone at NCIS would be on the top of her list.  
Gibbs. He would know what to do. But that also meant that half of NCIS would work on the case.  
She dismissed calling Gibbs.

Then there was Tony. Her partner. Her friend. She had betrayed him, and he had betrayed her.  
They weren't exactly on speaking term but they had always been good friends. Ziva hoped that those 4 years of close friendship would be strong enough to withstand the rough patches they had went through.

Without hesitation she dialed Tony's number. Ziva smiled. She had memorized his number in one of her first weeks at NCIS. Ziva had thought of a prank to make him believe he had a stalker. Calling him every day saying nothing. It had been fun to watch Tony groan when his phone rang and seeing him looking over his back at least 3 times a day.

Someone answered.

_"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo."_

Ziva took a deep breath and said, "It's me."

* * *

**A/U:** What do you think?  
It's not one of the best chapters I admit, but I needed to write this so that you would know what happened to Ziva.

The next chapter is already written. And I know the story goes slow but I like it that way!

If any of you got suggestions or see a mistake in one of my chapters let me know! Then I can fix my mistake.  
I don't always reply but I'll always put a 'thank you!' in the next chapter!!

Once again Sorry for my bad english!

Now please review!!!!  
And I'll update fast!!

Chanty,


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